| The Secrets of a Beautiful Life |
Chapter 13 |
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It is remarkable, too, that most of his words about joy were spoken the night before he died. This suggests that he meant his followers to have this joy, not only in their happy days, but when they were in sadness. It is evident, also, that it is not earthly gladness that he desires his friends to have, but a joy that dwells deep in the heart, — too deep for any earthly pain or sorrow to touch.
Surely here is a secret worth learning. There are a thousand things in this world that tend to disturb or destroy human happiness. If there is a way to live beyond the reach of these things, to live a life calm, serene, rejoicing, victorious, songful, in the midst of sorrow, loss, struggle, pain, and wrong, we ought to know it.
It is certain that we cannot get this joy by finding a place where the world’s cares and hurts cannot reach us. There is no such place on this earth. No walls can shut out pain and travail. Christ did not ask that his disciples should be taken out of the world. They must live, as he did, in ordinary human condition. The wind blows no more softly for you because you are God’s child. Christ does not give us his joy by sheltering us from the things that might disturb the joy.
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